We Endure
by IRead2MuchManga99
Summary: Someone unexpected arrives to help a depressed Gohan in the aftermath of the Cell Games.


He barely moved since he had gotten back. He saw no point in it. He was the reason things had gotten as bad as they did. It was his fault that the earth's greatest warrior was gone with a spot too large for anyone to ever properly fill. His fault that Cell had been so close to destroying everything on the planet. Despite everyone's attempts at cheering him up he still felt this way. He should have been happy. The threat that Cell had posed was gone. But his dad was gone too. Goku was dead for good this time. The Dragon Balls had already revived him once and he refused to be brought back another time. He had his second chance at life and chose to sacrifice again. His dad always seemed like the sacrificing type. He said this was for the greater good because without his ki added to the mix and everyone suppressing theirs maybe threats would stop coming to earth looking for a challenge to test their strength or anything like that.

"Gohan." Chi-Chi's voice was muffled by the wood but her knocking got Gohan's attention like usual. "There's someone here to see you."

Who was it this time? Krillin, Yamcha, Bulma, or Trunks. It couldn't be the last one because he had already left back to his own timeline with the promise to come back every now and then.

"Tell them to go away." Gohan's, speaking for the first time in weeks, hoarse voice said as he closed his eyes to go to sleep and maybe dream of something better. He heard the muffle sounds of his mother saying something and a male voice saying something back.

"Come out Gohan. He's not leaving."

He should have known that just telling them to leave the first time wouldn't work. It always took a few times before they got the message that he wanted to be left alone. He would have to tell them to leave himself if he wanted them to go away.

"…way…" that was all Gohan could pick up on before he sensed the sudden increase of Ki and the door was blown off its hinges with pieces of it showering where he was sitting on the floor with splinters. A quick flare of his own Ki though insured he remained unharmed.

Gohan' eyes widened at who walked through the smoking doorway. Vegeta himself in full battle armor was standing in his room as he stood with his arms crossed glaring at Gohan with a scowl on his face. The Prince of all Saiyans gave a glance around the room and took in the appearance of it not being cleaned in a while and his scowl turned into a grimace before his eyes focused on Gohan.

"Get up and follow me brat." Was all he said before walking back out of the room and Gohan found himself following him and passing a distraught Chi-Chi on the way out of the house as Vegeta lazily flew over the region that was his home. Of course lazily in Vegeta's being slightly slower than the speed of sound. Gohan thought this was so they could talk without a delay or else they would be going much faster but only left with their thoughts.

"Where are we going?" Gohan asked as they continued to fly with Vegeta making minor adjustments to their course.

"You'll see when we get there." Was all Vegeta said as his gaze remained focused ahead of them.

The two flew in silence as Gohan tried in vain to guess where they were going. He couldn't remember anything about where they were flying. Capsule Corp was in another direction along with Kame House and the Lookout. Vegeta looked like he would be giving no hints and only occasionally glanced back to make sure that Gohan was still following him and not turning back to head back home. He did gradually speed up though. Soon they were going faster than sound with neither Z-Fighter breaking a sweat yet as Vegeta gradually increased their speed. Gohan could only think of what he was doing as some sort of test to see what his power level was. The last he heard Vegeta was still angry at Gohan achieving Super Saiyan 2 before him.

Vegeta suddenly stopped and Gohan instantly recognized where they were. Despite the damage to the landscape he recognized the area as where Cell had held his version of the World Martial Arts Tournament. The Cell Games. The contest that he said would decide whether he destroyed the earth or not. Gohan's next memory was of his father's smiling face right before he teleported away with Cell to what he thought would be both of their permanent end. Cell had come back though and would've won if Goku hadn't encouraged his son to end the fight. It seemed like Vegeta was also lost in his own thoughts as he looked out to where he had memorized his son being killed at. Even though the entire area had been damaged in the final clash with Cell, he would swear that he could still see his son's blood trail from where it had leaked out his chest after being shot by Cell.

"Gohan." Vegeta started as his turned to look at Gohan who was surprised at being called by his given name. "When you look around you, what do you see?"

"I see where we fought Cell at and how badly it got messed up."

"We all see that. But what do you see? I see Trunks on the ground with a hole in his chest and blood all around him. I see Kakarot giving that stupid smile before teleporting away with Cell to what he thought was their shared doom. I see a boy that never wanted to fight but was forced into all of this."

Gohan was taken back by what Vegeta had said. The Prince had actually seemed to be fighting a losing battle with his emotions as he talked to Gohan. The mere mention of Trunks' death still seemed to deeply affect him more than he would ever show to anyone. But being in the place that it happened at seemed to have finally bring all the emotions that he would usually bury to the surface.

"Now what do you see Gohan?" Vegeta asked again.

"I see the Cell Juniors fighting everyone. I see Cell crushing 16's head. I see my dad leaving with Cell because I didn't just finish him off." Gohan said as he balled up his fist and shut his eyes to hold back the tears that threatened to spill out of his eyes. His voice cracking at the mention of Goku couldn't be hidden though. "I see Cell coming back and killing Trunks. I feel my arm breaking again. I see the hopelessness that was in my eyes when he was beating me until you all stepped in."

"It won't get easier anytime soon Gohan. You'll ask what you could've done differently. You'll feel like it's all your fault. It's pointless though to focus on the past and let the present slip by. What's done is done and can't be changed no matter how badly we want to change it. What matters is what are you going to do now. Wallowing in self-pity and guilt all day. If that is your answer then I can end you right here and now because that it no life worth living." Vegeta rasied his hands towards Gohan with a Ki blast already charged in it. "Or you can live a life that your father would be proud of. That your grandfather and every other Saiyan would be proud of. We are a proud people Gohan and we are fighters. We are warriors that laugh when we're outnumbered. We proudly show off scars. We endure any pain that we face and come out stronger from it. We endure Gohan. We always have and always will." Vegeta lowered his hand and locked eyes with Gohan. "Now will you endure this and come out a better man or will you choose to waste this chance your father gave to you."

Vegeta saw the fiery resolve in Gohan's eyes and knew that the empty shell that was the boy since his father's death had finally regained the spark of life that was once there. It was still a long way to go before he was back to what he was before but at least the fire that was once in him was starting again.

"It hurts too much still. It's my fault for not finishing off Cell when I had the chance."

"That was your Saiyan instinct Gohan. You wanted to test your new limits after gaining all that power. Any Saiyan would do the same and Kakarot did the exact same against Frieza. But more than that you wanted him to suffer for all the suffering he caused. You wanted to take vengeance for not only yourself but your family, friends, their families, and anyone else he hurt. He deserved everything that happened to him. No one knew he had the ability to blow himself up like that. If anyone is to blame for letting things get as bad as they were? It's me." Vegeta closed his eyes and looked towards the sky as he remembered his battle with Cell. "I had the chance to destroy him after he had absorbed 17 but chose not to. I wanted to beat him at his strongest and he knew that. He baited me into letting him absorb 18 and I let him. The difference between you and I though is that I know that I moved on. I didn't spend weeks reflecting on what could've been. Instead I kept moving forward resolving to get stronger and face this new menace I had created. So what is your answer Gohan."

"I'll endure this and become someone who my dad can be proud of." Gohan said as he looked into the Prince's eyes and Vegeta could tell that the small spark had turned into a fire once again.

* * *

 **AN :** I just think that it would've been pretty cool to see Vegeta be the one to finally snap Gohan out of any depression related to Goku's death.


End file.
